The use of relatively rigid support structures to provide shape and support for foundation garments such as bras, corsets, swimsuits, girdles, and the like is fairly old in the art. In the case of a bra this relatively rigid support structure is typically constructed of a flat spring type steel strip that is configured in somewhat of a “U” or semi circular type shape which is typically called the bra underwire. The underwire forms a semicircular base for the lower half of each breast cup, wherein the underwire is positioned approximately at the interface between the user's torso and each their breasts. The underwire is disposed within the bra fabric casing to create omnidirectional support rigidity for each breast cup of the bra, wherein the bra is necessarily made from a soft and sometimes shear (see through) fabric for bra user comfort adjacent to their skin and for appearance reasons. This underwire end portion protrusion from the bra fabric underwire casing can be caused from a number of factors that include bra user upper torso and arm movement, forces to the bra that are external to the bra user, and bra fabric deterioration from washing, drying, and aging. When the bra underwire end portion does protrude or “poke through” the bra fabric underwire casing, this results in damage to the bra fabric underwire casing and possible injury to the bra user from the protruding underwire end portion chaffing or piercing the bra user's skin adjacent to the bra fabric underwire casing/underwire end portion interface. The present invention of a support device helps to retain the underwire end portion in the bra fabric casing thus assisting in the prevention of the underwire end portion poking through the bra fabric casing.
Physical activities such as running, tennis, bicycling, wrestling, swimming, and the like by the user of the bra can all contribute to the underwire end portion poking through the bra fabric underwire casing. In addition, because most bras have two separate underwires that are non symmetrically shaped and fairly rigid i.e. the “U” shape, wherein when the underwire experiences a force from the user's movement, it typically causes the underwire to experience both a torsional (twisting) loading (movement) and a combined lateral (lengthwise) movement, so that the underwire end portion will exert both protruding force against the bra underwire casing fabric that is transverse to the underwire lengthwise axis and a force parallel to the underwire lengthwise axis, intensifying (due to the combined forces) the potential for poke through damage from the underwire end portion through the bra underwire casing. This is as opposed to a symmetric garment stiffener, i.e. straight not being “U” shaped, wherein a force at one end will typically result in a single force at the other end that is parallel to the stiffener lengthwise axis. The problem is that once the underwire end portion protrudes through the bra underwire casing, the entire bra assembly is essentially useless, and the bra underwire casing is not easily repaired nor worth repairing as most repairs will cause a weak spot from excess stitching.
Further, the protruding underwire end portion can cause chaffing, blistering, and even piercing of user's skin in the chest or torso area causing extreme discomfort and risk of infection and injury for the user of the bra. Additionally, the user's clothing adjacent to the bra can be damaged from the underwire end portion piercing the bra underwire casing. Further, even if the bra underwire casing does not get ripped open from the underwire end portion poking through, the bra underwire casing fabric adjacent to the underwire end portion can apply a localized area pressure on the bra transmitting against the user's torso and/or breast area housing causing user discomfort by chaffing, blistering, and the like. Furthermore, even when the bra is of the correct size (breast cup size wise), variations in the user's body type i.e. anatomical differences (such as tall or short, heavy set or thin builds) can result in a bra misfitting discomfort to the user, and typically adds to the user torso/arm movement leading to the aforementioned relative movement of the underwire relative to the bra underwire casing thus increasing the probability of the underwire end portion protruding through the bra underwire casing rendering the bra unusable and risking user injury as previously discussed.
The problem of the bra underwire end portion protruding from the underwire casing of the bra fabric is inherent in the structural design of having a desirably soft and relatively flexible bra material (as against the user's chest and torso) being structurally adjacent to a desirably rigid and stiff material for the bra underwire (to give a desired shape and contour to the user's breasts). This interface between the hard and soft materials of necessity causes strength of materials issues as well as separation and displacement issues. Thus, the aforementioned bra fabric and underwire end portion protrusion problem is well recognized in the prior art. The prior art primarily focuses upon adding a soft tip to the underwire end portion or providing a hard restraint for the underwire end portion within the bra fabric casing to help prevent protrusion of the underwire end portion from the bra underwire casing and attempting to lessen the previously described effects of the highly localized pressure area that the underwire end portion can apply through the bra fabric underwire casing to the user's torso and/or breast.
One approach in recognition of the underwire end portion potentially protruding through the bra fabric casing it to have the underwire free ends or tips include a soft type of polymeric tip. As an example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,130 B1 to Thakur et al., disclosed is a bra underwire having polymeric tips that are slidably engaged (longitudinally) to the underwire to allow for lengthening or shortening of the underwire during use. Thakur et al., helps prevent the underwire from protruding through the bra underwire casing material when the user is twisting or bending while wearing the bra. However, a problem with Thakur et al., is that by affixing the polymeric tip to the bra underwire casing fabric, additional compressive force from the bra movement will cause the underwire shortening to “bottom out”, leading to a high probability that the tip will still protrude through the underwire casing fabric and causing the aforementioned user problems. Another approach in addressing a portion of the problems associated with underwires is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,774 to Avellanet that discloses a bra support element secured to the bra fabric that is designed to prevent twisting of the underwire that is in the form of a cable to retain its “U” shape, but not necessarily to prevent protrusion of the cable end from the bra. Similar to Thakur et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,643 to Schwartz, disclosed is a removably engagable protective end cover for use with the underwire tip that includes a stitching hole to sew the end cover to the bra fabric. Furthermore, in Schwartz '643 the end cover has a somewhat pointed tip that increases the risk of the tip wearing through the bra fabric, in addition the stitching is put in shear stress (from the underwire longitudinal movement), thus the stitching is more likely to fail along with stressing the fabric in a small area adjacent to the stitch, such that with the single point stitch hole the fabric is also subject to failing, resulting in the underwire tip again being able to protrude through the bra casing fabric.
Further approaches include encasing the underwire in a multilayered and padded pocket as in United States Patent Application Publication No. US2005/0124261 A1 to Martini being specifically shown in FIG. 4, however, possibly adding an undesirable level of bulkiness to the bra, specifically in the underwire area. In a similar approach to Martini, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,580 B2 to Falla et al., disclosed is a protected underwire wherein the underwire is encased within a bladder that is within a gelatinous material to “soften” the feel of the underwire for the bra user. However, Falla et al., does not have a provision to definitively prevent the ends of the underwire protruding from the bra. Further, in a different approach to the underwire tip protrusion issue is in U.S. Pat. No. 6,780,080 B2 to Horta et al. that discloses an underwire soft tip that helps to prevent the underwire from protruding from the bra, with the soft tip itself not attached to the bra fabric. However, with Horta et al., there is still a risk of underwire protrusion from the bra sleeve at the soft tip and underwire interface, again the issue of a hard and soft material interface having potential problems with the soft tip potentially yielding and thus allowing the underwire to protrude from the bra. Likewise, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,565 to Rowell, disclosed is a bra underwire having soft encapsulated tips that are affixed to each underwire end, having a pin attachment between the underwire and the tip. However, in Rowell '565 the soft tip is not attached to the bra fabric sleeve, thus having the same shortcomings as Horta et al.
Similar to Horta et al., and Rowell '565, where a soft tip is included on the underwire end, is in U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,538 B1 to Allen et al., that discloses a bra underwire that has a wide soft tip designed to minimize wear on the underwire sleeve or casing fabric during use. Allen et al., has the configuration of the bra cups positioned to enhance cleavage size, however, not addressing the problem of the underwire potentially protruding through the bra fabric. Continuing in the soft underwire tip area in U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,040 to Morgan et al., disclosed is a narrow cushion tip for a bra underwire wherein the soft tip is smaller in width than the underwire width. Morgan et al., utilizes the narrow soft tip width for ease of assembly, i.e. sliding the underwire and soft tip into the bra fabric casing. Thus in Morgan et al., addressed is the assembly ease issue, as with most other designs like Allen et al., Schwartz '643, and Thakur et al. the soft tip on the underwire is wider than the underwire width, which makes it difficult to slide the underwire and wider soft tips into the fabric sleeve for assembly of the bra. However, the problem with Morgan et al., is that it will require a special underwire end for interface with the narrow soft tip, in addition to the previously described problem of the soft tip not attached to the bra fabric having the same shortcomings as Rowell '565 and Horta et al.
As with Morgan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,316 to Schwartz discloses a bra underwire with attached plastic caps for use with narrow flat underwires. Schwartz '316 also includes a locking structure of the narrow flat underwire to the plastic cap, however, as with Morgan et al., Rowell '565, and Horta et al., Schwartz '316 does not stitch the cap to the bra fabric, thus the cap only provides a rounded blunt tip that is “softer” that the underwire itself. Another approach to underwire soft tips is in U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,027 to Fildan that discloses a bra that uses an underwire with wide soft tips. Fildan has the underwire constructed of nylon, with the materials of construction for the underwire being resilient to be in conjunction with the soft to help prevent protrusion of the underwire from the bra sleeve. Fildan also places emphasis upon the circumferential length of the underwire for added support being about 270 degrees as opposed to the typical underwire circumferential length standard of about 180 degrees. Yet, another further approach to the underwire tip protrusion problem is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,767 to Arceo by dramatically increasing the area of the tip by using a “T” type shape. Here, the Arceo “T” shaped underwire tips greatly increase the area of the sleeve fabric that is exposed to bearing load from the underwire tip to help prevent protrusion of the underwire through the bra. One problem with Arceo is that the “T” shaped tip can still cause added discomfort to the user because of the significant increase in underwire tip size in addition to the problems with excessive bulkiness of the bra in the underwire tip area. Continuing, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,641 to Brown disclosed is a bra underwire tip similar to Arceo except for having a kidney shaped end as opposed to a “T” shaped end.
Other prior art approaches toward retaining bra underwire tips in the bra fabric casing are in U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,175 to Rowell which discloses a bra underwire with a tip cap that is pierceable by a sewing needle in order to attach the cap to the bra fabric sleeve, with a retained slidable engagement between the underwire tip and the cap, being similar to both Thakur et al., (for the slidable engagement) and Schwartz '643 (for the stitching through feature of the underwire tip). However, in Rowell '175 the cap is only attached to the bra fabric sleeve by a single stitching aperture and the tip is somewhat pointed which increases the likelihood of additional bearing wear against the bra fabric sleeve and discomfort to the user form the somewhat pointed tip having a smaller bearing area against the bra fabric sleeve that transmits to the user's breast and/or torso. However, in Rowell '175 the slidable engagement of the tip to the underwire does accommodate some degree of bra fabric movement as previously mentioned. Alternatively, for a more permanently affixed (non moving) attachment of the soft tip to the underwire, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,435 to Spence disclosed is an underwire tip having a unique attachment to the underwire although the tip is not attached to the sleeve, as Spence fully recognizes the problem of attaching or trying to bond a hard and a soft material together and attempts to correct this problem by molding the soft tip on to the underwire end. Furthermore, another approach to the underwire protruding through the bra fabric casing is in U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,753 to Schwartz that discloses a bra supporting underwire with soft tip ends wherein the underwire is completely encased in a polymeric material that varies its cross section (length wise) to optimize the user's comfort, i.e. having a thicker cross section at the lengthwise center of the underwire. However, in Schwartz '753 as with Arceo and Brown, the extra bulk in the area of the underwire of the bra may be undesirable to the user.
Similar to Schwartz '753 in looking at U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,756 to Rowell that discloses a bra underwire that is also completely encased like Schwartz '753 with varying cross section lengthwise that is different that the Schwartz “753 cross section change lengthwise, with Rowell '756 having the same drawbacks as previously described for Schwartz '753, Arceo, and Brown, wherein again the extra bulk in the area of the underwire of the bra may be undesirable to the user. A further approach is in having a wide area flange of a soft material at the underwire tip such as in U.S. Pat. No. 1,297,742 to Shorrock that discloses a corset stay that is of a soft material having a semicircular flange extension margin that can be stitched through. However, in Shorrock the stitching is still put in shear stress like Schwartz '643 and Rowell '175 with the previously described drawbacks of weakening the attachment of the soft underwire or stay tip to the bra or corset fabric. In addition, similar to Schwartz '643 and Rowell '175 in looking at U.S. Pat. No. 2,938,215 to Schwartz disclosed is a flexible tip with a thinned section that can be stitched through with the purpose of holding the bra underwire tip in place. However, Schwartz '215 will have the same functional shortcomings as previously mentioned in Shorrock.
What is needed is a support device that can secure the bra underwire end portion to the bra fabric casing sleeve by having a “soft” restraint that can accommodate user torso and arm movement without adding much bulk to the bra fabric casing sleeve adjacent to the underwire end portion such that the user is practically unaware of the support device being installed in the bra. The key to the soft restraint is in allowing some degree of movement of the underwire end portion within the bra fabric casing sleeve to cushion the restraint so as to reduce the bearing load that the underwire end portion would normally have against the bra fabric casing sleeve. Even though Rowell '175 has a slidable engagement of the tip to the underwire, allowing some amount of movement, once the slidable engagement bottoms out, the tip will put the stitching and the adjacent fabric in shear stress i.e. the weakest strength of material for the stitching and adjacent fabric potentially leading to failure of the stitching and then the undesirable protrusion of the tip through the bra fabric with the aforementioned problems. Thus, a more desirable soft restraint would allow for omnidirectional movement between the underwire end portion and the support device in the form of a couple that could facilitate the support device attachment to the bra fabric being movable such that the attachment stitching when restraining the underwire end portion could be substantially put into tension (as opposed to shear) along with the adjoining bra fabric to increase the strength of the support device attachment, thus helping to further preclude the undesirable protrusion of the underwire end portion through the bra fabric with the attendant previously discussed problems.